Pair of medics will represent Fort Bliss at Armywide competition

Staff Sgt. Cory Glasgow, left, and Sgt. Cara Chapman survived three days of grueling tests to be named the top medics in the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss. They will team up at the Armywide competition later in October at Camp Bullis near San Antonio.(Photo: DAVID BURGE/EL PASO TIMES)Buy Photo

Two young noncommissioned officers from Fort Bliss will get a chance to show off their medic skills and compete against the best from across the Army later this month.

Staff Sgt. Cory Glasgow, a 26-year-old from Cave Junction, Ore., and Sgt. Cara Chapman, a 22-year-old from Bremond, Texas, finished first and second respectively at the recent 1st Armored Division Best Medic Competition. They competed as individuals over three grueling days.

Next, they will be paired up as a two-person team and will represent Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division at the Command Sgt. Maj. Jack L. Clark Best Medic Competition from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2 at Camp Bullis near San Antonio.

“It was really cool competing with other people in my MOS (military occupational specialty) to see what they bring to the table,” Chapman said.

“It was really cool competing with other people in my MOS (military occupational specialty) to see what they bring to the table.”

Sgt. Cara Chapman

The Fort Bliss event was the first time Chapman had ever competed in a best medic competition. She is the evacuation sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment with 1st Brigade.

He is now the platoon sergeant for Medical Platoon with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment with 2nd Brigade.

Glasgow didn’t get too much time to train for the Fort Bliss competition. He went on 2nd Brigade’s rotation to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., in August, returned home and almost immediately jumped into the local competition.

Glasgow will go on 2nd Brigade’s upcoming deployment to Kuwait, but will leave a little bit later so he can compete in the Armywide competition.

“I expect to win. But we also expect to learn things we can bring back and teach our guys.”

Sgt. Cara Chapman

From past experience, Glasgow expects the competition at Camp Bullis to be “very physically demanding, but fun.”

At the Fort Bliss competition, Glasgow and Chapman survived three days of mental and physical tests against other medics. The event was designed to showcase their critically important medic skills, Glasgow said.

On the first day, competitors went through a modified Army physical fitness test while wearing their duty uniforms, were tested by the obstacle and confidence courses at the Air Assault Course, showed off their ability to tie mountaineering knots, had to pass a packing list inspection and then conducted day and night land navigation.

On day two, they went out to a weapons range and had to qualify on their M4 rifles. They did a ruck march carrying about 40 pounds of gear and then had to respond to different situational training scenarios both during the day and at night.

During the situational training exercises, they had to disassemble and reassemble their weapons, react to contact, treat a mock casualty, assemble a radio and then call in for a medical evacuation.